Ellery Trafford is a New York-based percussionist specializing in contemporary chamber music who thrives on the search for new means of expression, musical and otherwise. Originally from Georgia, he holds degrees from Georgia State University, Bowling Green State University and The Manhattan School of Music and has studied with Stuart Gerber, Roger Schupp, Jeffrey Milarsky and John Ferrari. Trafford has attended festivals such as the Sō Percussion Summer Institute, the Bang On A Can Summer Festival, the Third Practice Electroacoustic Festival, the Spark Electronic Arts Festival and the Beijing Modern Music Festival. He has performed at venues in New York and abroad from the eminent to the underground: from Beijing’s National Performing Arts Center to Carnegie Hall, The Stone, Roulette and many more in New York. Special projects include co-founding ensembles like TAK, a quintet + electronics, and OUTLAW, a percussion/piano performance art duo. If you’re still reading this, I commend your patience for letting me prattle on about how awesome I think I am. Let’s get a beer after a concert sometime and actually talk about music or whatever. takensemble.com